Tuesday, October 28, 2008

It's a small world after all

So it turns out Hollywood isn't totally useless after all. Surely not if Kevin Bacon has cured cancer?! No really, I've just seen it on the ABC.

How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer is actually a fascinating look into the mathematics of networks, as developed by a couple of American and Australian über-geeks studying crickets, and developed into the study of the World Wide Web (as my Mum still refers to it), transport systems, the spread of pathogens and even the internal workings of a single cell.

I've often feared my encyclopedic knowledge of movies would come to nothing, but now I can sleep soundly knowing all those 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' games I've played over the years have at the very least contributed to an understanding of networks, their hubs, and the increasingly small world we living in.

Visit Sixdegrees.org to see how Kevin Bacon is doing his bit to spread the love.

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About Me

Freelance writer, award winning film critic and shameless history nerd. The Plot Thickens has become an archive for my published scratchings - for publications including Limelight Magazine, The Guardian Australia, The Vine, SBS Film, The Big Issue, Mornings on 702 ABC Sydney as well as the Critics' Forum on Richard Glover's Drive. I also produce and host The Spoiler Guys podcast with Marc Fennell and Giles Hardie.

So, welcome to my brand of cinephilia: everything from Antonioni to Zoolander.